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Raqqa being hammered with airstrikes, artillery
BEIRUT: Syrian opposition activists say more airstrikes and artillery shelling have hit the northern city of Raqqa, the de facto capital of the Daesh group.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights says the city was pounded by warplanes and artillery early in the morning on Monday. The activist group had no immediate word on casualties.

It said the bombardment comes as Kurdish-led Syrian Democratic Forces captured new areas west of Raqqa.

The activist-operated Raqqa is Being Slaughtered Silently says that since Sunday, the US-led coalition has carried out more than 30 airstrikes on the city, killing 35 people and destroying a school on Raqqa’s northern outskirts.

Airstrikes have intensified over the past days as US-backed fighters have marched toward the city, getting closer to besieging it from all sides.
The Times of Israel adds:
SDF fighters surround Raqqa from the north, west and east. The extremists still have an exit from the south, even though the US-led coalition destroyed two bridges on the Euphrates River south of Raqqa.

On Sunday, opposition activists say the US-led coalition dropped leaflets in Arabic on Raqqa, urging residents to leave the city. Some leaflets gave instructions of how to leave Raqqa, calling on people to keep their plans secret from IS and to leave without any weapons and waving a white banner.
Posted by: badanov 2017-05-30
http://www.rantburg.com/poparticle.php?ID=489193